Women married to taller men really are happier

Sasha Brown-Worsham has written for dozens of publications over the course of her years as a journalist and blogger. She lives outside NYC with her three children, husband, and multiple pets. She is working on her first novel.

The bigger the height difference in couples, the happier the woman

We all know women tend to gravitate toward men that are taller than them. Men complain about it constantly. Women deny it. Now, a new study may settle it once and for all. And as it turns out, women are very right to have this preference.

According to a new study by researchers at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, women married to taller men actually are happier. Not only that, their happiness also seems to increase as the height differential increases. This is so dang validating. I can't stand it.

In the study, the effect was pretty intense. Women stayed happier for 18 years thanks to a good height difference. After that point, the difference in happiness became negligible. But still. Eighteen years is nothing to sneeze at.

As a woman who has always gravitated toward men at least six feet tall, I can appreciate this. I am hardly a giant myself. I am 5 feet, 5.5 inches (on a good day), but I have never seriously date a man under six feet. Weird? Maybe. But my 6'2" husband is endlessly attractive to me. I can't explain why. Maybe it has to do with the way he can pick me up and toss me around. Maybe it has to do with the way he can reach things. But I bet it is something much deeper and primal.

Researchers theorize that women like taller men because they are viewed as more virile and fertile. It's always comes back to basic biology. We are all such apes.

Meanwhile, all the men with Napolean complexes have been validated. Being a shorter man would not be easy. But this study doesn't say women with shorter men are miserable. Just that women with taller men are happier. I am sure that at least some of it has to do with the sense of pride that comes from landing a "coveted" man.

Still, shorter men need not despair. Happy marriages and relationships need a lot more than height. That might be some portion of happiness, but it's not the whole shebang. I love my tall husband, but not because he is tall. I am happy because he is kind, a great listener, always supportive, and my very best friend. I am sure that is the case for most happy women, regardless of their husband's height.